Charles Lewis: Mormon baptism stories never really held water

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Mormons, has taken its fair share of grief throughout its relatively short 180-year-old history.

From its founding in upstate New York by Joseph Smith, they were beaten, banned, murdered and exiled — before finding a safe haven in Utah.

Now it is taking it on the chin once again for the supposed “proxy-baptism” of Anne Frank and slain American Jewish journalist Daniel Pearl. It is another example of an unthinking attack on a religion that still has to beg for respect.

Despite it dropping polygamy from its teachings more than 100 years ago it is still accused of practicing polygamy. Because it uses other sacred texts outside of the Bible it is accused of being un-Christian and a cult by many so-called real Christians. And even during the present Republican primary, Mitt Romney’s Mormon faith still appears to be a big deal, especially among evangelicals who cannot conceive of a Mormon in the White House.

None of this is fair. And most of it is from ignorance or just plain old bigotry. But anyone who is religious who goes after Mormons should look at their own particular beliefs — and then consider how odd they might seem to an outsider.

It is worth keep in mind that many secular people think all religions are delusional and all religious are demented.

Just witness this letter to the National Post:

“Reading the book excerpt on Mormon founder Joseph Smith reinforced my belief that ‘religion’ and ‘cult’ are one and the same, as they both have rites and ceremonies, and are based in a faith in a higher power controlling one’s destiny,” wrote one reader. “All one needs is a charismatic leader (J. Smith, Ron Hubbard, Jesus, Muhammad) to entice those around him to follow, and, voilà, a religion (cult) is born. The Ringling Brothers knew whereof they spoke: A sucker is born every minute. All of which is to say that all religions, all cults, and for that matter all gods are fabrications of a very few con men.”

A few weeks ago news reports began circulating that Mormons had posthumously baptized Frank and Pearl. Mormons believe in something called “proxy-baptism” which is a rite in which the souls of the dead are offered posthumous baptism and hence salvation and the entrance to eternal life.

The proxy baptism for Frank took place last month in a Mormon church in the Dominican Republic. It was found that Daniel Pearl was posthumously baptized in an Idaho temple in June.

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It sounds odd, I know, but then ask a Catholic about the real presence in the mass and then decide which is stranger. Personally, neither is strange: they just grow out of different theologies and tradition. On the other hand I am religious so I am used to what secular people would call odd.

But the Mormon image was not going to be helped by doing a proxy baptism — especially on an icon like Anne Frank.

There was much outrage but none of this was a legal act in the Mormon Church. It would be akin to someone bringing a roast pork to a Passover Seder.

Last week, the president of the Church issued a statement that could not have been clearer that these acts were against Mormon belief and simply beyond the pale.

“Without exception, church members must not submit for proxy temple ordinances any names from unauthorized groups, such as celebrities and Jewish Holocaust victims,” said Thomas S. Monson.

Those Mormons who perform such baptisms, he said, are in danger of losing their good standing in the faith.

The only people who can be submitted for proxy-baptism are direct relatives of Mormons, he added.

In effect, certain Mormons were not as up on their own religion as they should have been and went ahead with a ritual they were not supposed to perform. This should not be a surprise given there are Jews who know little about their religion and Protestants who have no idea who Martin Luther was.